Global Agenda Council on Energy Security

The Global Agenda Council on Energy Security highlights a critical gap in public investment for energy R&D, which has fallen in real terms since the early 1980s. It proposes the creation of a global innovation forum, potentially within the International Energy Agency (IEA), to coordinate R&D and large-scale demonstration projects among industrialised and emerging economies. The report further emphasizes the need to phase out subsidies for mature technologies and implement credible pricing for international externalities, specifically carbon dioxide, to align private investment with sustainability goals.

• Public investment in energy research and development has declined in real terms since the early 1980s, despite growing technological challenges. Some studies suggest that total public investment in energy innovation needs to be two to four times higher than current levels.
• The landscape of energy innovation has shifted from being concentrated in major industrial nations like the US, Japan, Germany, France, and the UK to a global model including emerging economies such as China, Brazil (specializing in hydrocarbon production), and South Africa (specializing in dry-cooled coal-fired power plants).
• Because energy technology is now a global public good, individual governments and firms tend to underinvest. The report suggests establishing a coordination forum, possibly through the International Energy Agency (IEA), with a membership expanded to include China, India, and South Africa.
• Improper pricing of energy remains a barrier to innovation. This includes the persistence of massive subsidies for mature technologies and a failure to effectively price international externalities like CO2, with existing carbon taxes and cap-and-trade programs often being low or not credible.
• The energy sector is characterized by slow invention-to-commercial-deployment cycles, often taking an entire generation to deploy new technologies. This makes sustained policy support and realism essential to avoid 'fads' that deter investors.

APA

World Economic Forum (2013). Global Agenda Council on Energy Security. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GAC/2013/WEF_GAC_EnergySecurity_Report.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Global Agenda Council on Energy Security. 2013. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GAC/2013/WEF_GAC_EnergySecurity_Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Global Agenda Council on Energy Security |date=2013 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GAC/2013/WEF_GAC_EnergySecurity_Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2013global, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Global Agenda Council on Energy Security}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2013}, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GAC/2013/WEF_GAC_EnergySecurity_Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }